Villa Maria responds after slow start to rout North Catholic

SLIPPERY ROCK — The Villa Maria girls basketball team played an uncharacteristic first quarter on Saturday.

It took all of the 60-second break between quarters for the Victors to forget about it.

After allowing 20 points in the first quarter, Villa held WPIAL champion North Catholic to 21 over the next three quarters to rally for a 57-41 win in a PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal showdown at Slippery Rock University.

“We knew we had to let it go,” Villa standout Madison Demski said. “We knew what we had to do the rest of the game.”

Villa Maria (21-5) moves on to the PIAA semifinals Tuesday against either Bishop McDevitt or Lancaster Catholic at a site and time to be determined. The PIAA semifinals were scheduled for Monday for Villa, but the eastern part of the state is backed up because of snow postponements.

Bishop McDevitt and Lancaster Catholic are set to play in a quarterfinal on Sunday.

North Catholic (25-3) came out firing in the first quarter as Dayton recruit Sam Breen scored 12 points against a usually steady Villa defense.

She didn't score the rest of the game.

“We tried putting a couple of different girls on her, and she is the player of the year in the state for a reason,” said Villa coach Doug Chuzie. “We were fortunate to get her in a little foul trouble, but I thought we did a better job recognizing where she was on the floor after the first quarter.”

Villa erupted in the second quarter to outscore North Catholic 23-5 and take a 34-25 lead into halftime. Demski scored six of her 16 points in the second quarter, while Molly Mraz scored seven of her 17 points during the run. Mraz, a Richmond recruit, will battle Breen over the next four years with both heading to the Atlantic 10.

“We knew we had to work hard on defense and she's a very good player,” Mraz said. “It doesn't matter to any of us who scores as long as we win. I think it all starts with our coaches getting us prepared for each game and the girls on the bench who push us in practice.”

After an uneventful third quarter, the Victors scored 17 points in the fourth to put the game away.

The Trojans were able to get within five points at 40-35 with six minutes left, but Villa's experience took over.

Demski scored inside before a Sydney Palermo putback. Palermo then hit two free throws with less than four minutes left and all of a sudden it was 46-35, as the Victors put the game away.

Andrea McCormick, a Columbia recruit, had nine points for Villa, while Tess Myers had 14 points for North Catholic, which won the PIAA Class 1A title last winter.

“We tried to get more good possessions and overcame some early defensive breakdowns,” Chuzie said. “North Catholic is a very good team, and we just kept plugging away to get stops and score in transition.”

Tom Reisenweber can be reached at 870-1707 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNreisenweber. Read the Varsity blog at GoErieBlogs.com/varsity.